After losing 1.3 million listeners, Vernon Kay has revealed his replacement on BBC Radio 2.

The 49-year-old presenter is taking a break to run an ultramarathon from London’s Victoria Park to Bolton Wanderers’ stadium in aid of Children In Need.

The news was announced on BBC Radio 2’s Instagram with an amusing video of Vernon considering potential stand-ins.

In the video, he evaluates possibilities such as Noel Edmonds and Mr. Blobby before calling fellow northern presenter Paddy McGuinness, 50, who is saved in his phone as ‘the OTHER Kay.’ Vernon requests that Paddy “host the quiz,” to which the No Likey No Lighty star accepts, initially referring to Family Fortunes before adding that he is required as a stand-in on BBC Radio 2.

Last month, radio industry group Rajar revealed a 1.3 million reduction in Vernon’s listenership since he took over the mid-morning show, with an average of 6.9 million tuning in between June and September 2023.

During the same time period, Vernon’s predecessor Ken Bruce, 72, raised the audience for his new show by 800,000 to 3.7 million.

He previously stated that he left the BBC after three decades in the same position because it was “time for a change” and seemed “like the natural culmination of some planning I’d been doing.”